Here is the second activity in my new Texas State Parks Activity Series. This activity is in Google Slides and can be assigned in Google Classroom. There are 15 questions on this activity that cover both math and map reading skills. This is a local State Park to us, only about an hour to the North. This is someplace your students might have visited or that they could potentially visit. I think that really increases the relevance and cool factor of this activity.
I am going to start a new series of activities based on Texas State Parks. Here is the first one of those. This activity is a math and map skills activity that was created in Google Forms to be assigned in Google Classroom. There are 10 questions and one bonus question on this activity. Questions include multiple choice, multi select, and numeric response question types.
Not too far from us is Lindale Texas which is not only home to Santa land but also the Lindale Candy Company who are apparently famous for their delicious peppermint candies. Here is a Google Form activity that examines this Texas Highways article by Steven Lindsey. The activity asks students 10 check for understanding short answer questions as they progress through the article.
Nimbus is my current go to screen shot tool for Chrome. My favorite feature of this tool is the ability to scroll down and capture more than just the visible area on the screen. This helps capture long visuals that extend beyond the screen that I might need for explanations.
https://www.socrative.com/k-12/
Engage students to assess their comprehension with on the fly quick questions or formal quizzes through Socratic. Check for understanding by blasting out multiple choice, T/F or Short answer questions. Get instant feedback about student knowledge to differentiate lessons for maximum effectiveness. You can have up to 5 quizzes on a free account. Pro accounts for unlimited quizzes are $90 a year. We have plenty of other free quiz alternatives though. I think this tool would be most useful for the quick individual activity questions and exit tickets.
The bread and butter of Zipgrade is camera scanning multiple choice answer sheets. You can download and use their 20, 50, or 100 question “scantrons” (or create your own) and have them instantly graded by the app on your phone.
It does scan rapidly one after the other on the same screen.
The app gives you item analysis for each question. You can grade 100 papers per month for free. Unlimited grading access is only $7 a year.
It’s time to take your timeline to the next level with these amazing tools.
Tiki-Toki
Examine this Tiki-toki timeline and take a trip down my memory lane. Witness all of the times that Mr. Brown moved while growing up until he landed here in North Texas. This timeline was simple to make and include images. It takes all of the information you input and forms it into an interactive timeline.
https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/1784624/Mr.Brown/
Knightlab Timeline
https://timeline.knightlab.com/
TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines. Beginners can create a timeline using nothing more than a Google spreadsheet.
To make my timeline example I started with the green Make a timeline button pictured above.
https://timeline.knightlab.com/docs/using-spreadsheets.html Well I never got this to work….. Let me know if you do. Maybe it was down today.
Here are a few ideas to incorporate writing in a more fun and engaging way.
https://uniqcode.com/typewriter/
OverType Typewriter simulator is fun for students to experience the old school typing process of yester year. It is a great reminder to us older folks how awesome the technology we have now really is and how much we take it for granted. It really is a challenge to use with our modern typing style. The sound effects are a big deal also.
https://typewritesomething.com/
Typewritesomething.com is a much easier to use tool and will be a lot less frustrating. The experience isn’t as authentic but still fun.
http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter6.html
Looking to challenge your students with some larger writing assignments? yWriter6 might be a tool worth trying to better organize and improve their ideas.
Insert a “poet and didn’t even know it” joke here then have your students create their poetry in Canva. They can use all kinds of fonts, styles, templates, backgrounds, images, and more. Below is my own personal original creation as an example. It is an ode to our beagle puppy who has as many nicknames as he does bad habbits. Followed by another even lamer example.
Put this on the list of coolest EdTech Tools! Check out wordwall.net for some awesome activities. With Wordwall you can create any of these activities below for FREE. Once you create an activity you can apply that word set to any of the activity templates below. This looks like a really fun way to get your students reviewing content in multiple different engaging formats.
I made a Biology Example. I just went to Quizlet.com and downloaded a set of terms (that’s a great resource for you also). I then copy pasted those into the wordwall template in a few minutes.
With that Share button I can push this activity out to Google Classroom. Or get a link to share the activity with a colleague. Also notice that Switch Template option in the top right corner.
Anagram Scramble
There are even more options including printable available under a paid Pro Account. Which has plans from $6 to $9 a month.
Here is a Google Docs activity that asks students to read an incredibly exciting article about Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez. The assignment then asks students to answer several open ended questions in the space provided. This assignment is designed to be assigned digitally in Google Classroom but can easily be printed as well.
Here is a Google Slides drag and drop activity. This can be completed together as a class teacher led on the board. It would work even better with an interactive SMART projector or board. It could also be assigned in Google Classroom for students to complete individually on a Chromebook.
Need to get your students practicing their skills at analyzing primary or secondary sources? Here is a Google Form template just for that.
How do I…. with a PDF is a question I often get. Here are some great tools for completing nearly any PDF related task.
You can use this tool to annotate, or add text /images to a pdf. You could also have students use this tool to complete a PDF assignment with the pencil tool, for example have them circle the correct answers. You won’t get submissions graded automatically but there might be instances where this is useful. Like for labeling a map or analyzing a chart or graph. This tool even walks you through using Google Translate to convert a PDF into other languages.
Need to convert a pdf to an image file to complete some important task. Here is a great free tool for that.
This is another do all pdf tool that is great for merging multiple pdf documents into one or doing the opposite and splitting a pdf into smaller pieces, maybe you just want one page from a packet to use. This tool lets you add a watermark to a pdf file, rearrange the pages of a pdf and of course convert other office files to pdfs.
Another PDF multitool that gives you free options to do the usual as well as cool things like extract an image from a PDF, as well as crop, rotate, and resize pages in a PDF. You can also use this tool to add a header or footer to a PDF.
Another option for you which works smoothly with Google Drive.
Ok, ok, As of right now there still is no built in 100% perfect way to just do this. However I did come across this workaround which might be of some value. I think it would be a little faster than reusing a post from the first class.
I did some research at the request of a teacher and tried to find an extension that would accomplish this but had no luck with that. If anyone ever finds one please let us know.
